of Depth of Field, speedlites and recycle time….

01 August 2011
Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

while I was photographing Lamisa at the start of this month, I actually had something bigger in my mind… I was thinking of making a plan for some group shots in the coming Eid holidays… so, I was looking for some suitable places in the house and also the most suitable settings for such shoots…. group shots are some pain…. one of the hardest jobs to accomplish…. it creates some technical nightmares and also makes the actual shoot itself something of a challenge…. while experimenting, I figured out some problems that I need to rectify…. some of that I had found ways to overcome, while others had to be bypassed altogether….

1) the first thing that played in my mind was space…. if I needed to cover a large enough group, I needed enough space to cover the whole group…. a wide-angle would obviously require a bigger backdrop, and would also create problems related to distortion…. on the other hand, a longer lens, which might’ve flattened perspectives and would’ve made it easier to work with a smaller backdrop, would require a lot of space to shoot…. it didn’t entirely got solved, as there’s a space constraint in my house that I can’t rectify easily…. so, I needed to work with a smaller backdrop and resort to Photoshop, of which I’m an absolute dumb!!

2) the second problem was Depth of Field (DoF)….. a group would invariably require me to shoot f8 and lower…. that would put a lot of pressure of the flashes… speedlites would struggle to say the least…. well, this wasn’t a real problem as long as I could put the light source very close to the subjects….. but with a large group, you just can’t keep the lights that close, otherwise you’ll end up having lights in the frame!!…..

3) so, this created the third problem….. making a bigger light source, as the lights began to go farther away from the subject…. a nice big softbox will not produce soft light if its placed a mile from the subject….. it has to be close to the subject; its size needs to be substantial relative to the distance from the subject… but with a group shot, it becomes difficult…. the light source has to be bigger to keep it at a good distance…. and if the lights are farther from the subject, this creates another problem….

4) the fourth problem would be the power of the lights…. as the lights are placed at a distance from the subjects, the power of the lights need to be higher…. its a simple logic…. the farther the light, the more light fall-off there is….. so, a substantial part of the light would be lost by the time it reaches the subjects….. so, raise the power of the lights…… this brings to the next problem…..

5) the fifth problem is about recycle time…. the further you put the lights from the subject and the more you dial up the power, the more time its going to require to recycle each time you shoot…. there’s always a chance of missing out vital moments with the lights taking too long to recycle…. in a previous post, I was talking about making a baby pose in front of the lens, where I’ve given the tips on making every second count and shoot as many frames as possible within the window of opportunity…. but this would require fast recycle time…. and how is this going to happen if the lights are pushed to their higher power?…..

and all of these are of course taking the most important thing into assumption…. that your lights are at least powerful enough to properly illuminate the subjects….. if thats not possible, you have to find ways other than using artificial lights…..

so, whats the solution to the problems?….. 1) one thing was sure that I wouldn’t get more space than I know I would…. so, have to work with a smaller backdrop and Photoshop…. or alternatively, use other props to fill the frame and make it less dependent on backdrops….

2) use bigger light sources as main lights….. softboxes are good as long as you have powerful lights in them…. but if there is shortage of powerful lights, you have to use multiple lights…. and that basically keeps out most softboxes (at least, the ones I have)… use diffusion panels instead…. they can stand in front of multiple speedlites and create one big uniform light source…. this means, my DIY 4′x4′ panels have some work ahead of them….

3) increase the number of speedlites if you’re dependent on speedlites…. that way, you may be able to shoot at a bit lower power…. 1/4 or 1/8 power is certainly better than 1/2 or 1/1 power…. since then, I’ve acquired a couple more YN-560 speedlites, which may give a great support….

4) use powerful studio lights whenever you can…. they’re real useful in creating that DoF…. and solves most of the problems cited above…. the Elinchrom Ranger unit (1,100 w/s) and a Simpex monolight (250 w/s) unit would be real handy…. the Simpex though, would be dependent on main lines…

anyway, the shootout went well…. I started with one main light, as shown above, and then added another light to cover the two subjects in some more space…. the speedlites did struggle to put enough light in there, though I was shooting only at f8… I didn’t push the aperture down to f11 or lower, as the flashes were shooting at high power (1/2 or 1/4) already; and missing some of the exposures…

every shoot is a problem-solving exercise…. if there’s no problem, that may mean that you’re no really putting an effort into it…

more to come soon….

five tips for making a preschooler pose for you….

01 August 2011
Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

I had been shooting Lamisa long enough to learn some basics of photographing a baby, especially a really unstable one…. that told me that photographing a preschooler is one of the hardest things to do… they have a mind of their own and would like to stick to it, whether it goes for you or against… they’re mobile, so you may have to wait for a long time before they come back to your preferred location…. but there are some ways you can make progress…. sharing some of my experiences….

1. find her interests…. the faster you can figure this one out, the quicker it would be for you to accomplish this…. you may try to use your setup to get to know the baby…. you can build your relationship with the baby while you do this….. babies do love photographic equipment…. they’re just too different from their boring toys!!

2. involve her…. make her feel that she is engaged in the whole process and doing some hard work…. Lamisa has interest in new attires… I try to use that to my advantage… every time I want her to pose in front of the camera, I tell her to get ready…. and she jumps into it!

3. have patience; lots of patience…. babies are restless…. they’re very unpredictable and would change mind anytime…. but don’t give up…. usually they do lose interest in one thing pretty quick…. and thats a good thing when you want her to come back…. you can never say that you can keep her in front of the lens for an indefinite amount of time…. this simply isn’t going to happen….

4. be trigger happy!!…… you’ll never get enough time to photograph a baby…. so, make the best use of time….. a frame takes a fraction of a second, so, take as many frames as you can when the baby is in the right place and in the right mood…. mind you, she can change her mind in a fraction of a second!

5. take help….. if you can have someone with you who can keep interest in the baby, do to advantage of that….. there’s nothing more frustrating than sitting idle with the camera while the baby pursues something else!

setup for this shoot….

there are many other tips that other photographers have shared online…. but these are my findings regarding making a preschooler pose… I would also like to share some more learning regarding doing an actual shoot after you get the baby to pose in front of the camera….

the pics here are from a long backlog, which I started clearing almost a month back… and I’m glad that I’m almost at the end of it….

more to come soon…..

how do you photograph a baby with balloons??

05 August 2011
Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

how do you shoot a baby with balloons?….. one way would be to give the baby space with all the balloons around her…. but how about shooting only the baby’s expressions with the balloons around her?….. you have to shoot pretty close, isn’t it?…. thats how it all began for Lamisa…. one of Lamisa’s favourite stuff is balloon…. she always demands balloons from the family members when they came back home from outside…. that made us create sort of a balloon stock in the house…. and however transient their lives may be, they still are capable of cheering her up…. and thats all that matters….

my aim was to show only her expressions with the balloons around…. and leave everything else….. for that, I chose the Sigma 150mm macro, one of the sharpest lenses I have, and placed a Simpex 120cm x 50cm softbox on Elinchrom Ranger unit…. I was shooting at f11 to give enough depth to the image and to make sure that I don’t miss focus with all that balloon around…. and I also switched to manual focus… Lamisa was playing with the balloons, so the balloons were anything but stable…. for a big portion of the time, the balloons were between her and the light, putting her in shadows…… and she was also preferring to hide behind the balloons most of the time!….. so, I had to look for the slightest of opportunities to shoot between the balloons…. the Elinchrom Ranger provided the fast recycle I needed…. a speedlite would probably not have done the job; definitely not at f11….. the 120cm x 50cm softbox helped me to control the exposure on the subject as well as on the backdrop…. I’m kinda loving this cheap tool….. and not to forget that it fits the Elinchrom mount!!

Lamisa was impatient as usual… and I had to make do…. the shoot had to be done in several sittings…. so, needed to keep the gear ready, looking for that opportunity when Lamisa was in the mood….

more to come soon…. still getting rid of backlogs!!

an evening of portraiture….

19 August 2011
Bailey Road, Dhaka, Bangladesh

the Paraboyz are some sticky dudes… they don’t know how to forget memories…. they know whats important in their lives….. they also know what comes around and what doesn’t…. so, when the proposition of a get-together, along with a photowalk came up, it was always a “go”….. the only factor that still remained was when…..

big thanks to the guys for showing up and displaying the affection for that friendship…. a friendship that never had a boundary of age….. this is one multi-age unique group….. the boyz have become men, and busy…. but the effort to keep that friendship alive has never become old…. I am proud to be part of it….

after that short photowalk at Chawkbazar Iftar Market, we had our Iftar at Royal Restaurant of Lalbagh…. but it was just too late for us to sit there and order something good…. but we had enough to call it an ‘Iftar’….. anyway, we also wanted to have a guys’ evening…. our families (well, those who have!) could wait….

the guys of Paraboyz who had been interested in photography, they were the main participants for this venture…. others were invited too…. ultimately we ended up with just 6 of us…. Omi left right after the photowalk at Chawkbazar…. while the five of us ventured in the evening for something different…. and it was different….

we hung out at Bailey Road; had a lot of yummy fruit juice, and before leaving, we decided to do something that we could remember….. we did some portraiture of ours…. I had a hunch that we might end up doing something like this…. so, I toiled to bring some strobist stuff…. a Lastolite 24″ Ezybox Hotshoe softbox, along with a YN-560 flash, Elinchrom Skyport radio triggers and a Manfrotto monopod, to be used as a boom….

Anonto is a great guy…. handsome, good-looking, and creative…. he was a pace sensation in our para cricket team…. but since then he has accomplished a lot more than just playing for his para, though those have nothing to do with his skills as a cricketer….. a young architect in his own right and making his mark in the industry with his creative stuff…. have seen him after a while actually…. his bearded look was something of a surprise for all of us…. he has lived up to his family, which is full of creative people…..

Aurnab is one my favourite subjects because of his expressive nature…. he has been as casual as he has ever been….. great guy to hang around with…. and loveable friend…. would love to see him restart his photography, as he has the eye for it, I believe…..

Shihab has always been a great friend…. one of the earliest enthusiasts among us in photography, he has found his firm footing in mass communication…. and thats where he’s discovering his passion for photography once more…. he’s been the main instigator behind a photowalk with our click-buddies…. big thanks!!….. and being involved with conservation of Nature, it was just more appropriate to click him in front of that backdrop!!

Anik is one of the funniest guys I know….. I can still remember that trip of ours at Bandarban and Cox’s Bazaar five years ago, where we had a great amount of fun having him around….. and as he has found his newly-found passion in photography, it was on me to figure out something unique for him…. I decided to create something that would portray his new desire…… I had only one light… so, I shot two images separately with that single softbox and stitched them together in Photoshop….. never done such kinda stuff in my life…. but it turned out to be pretty good!!

the main aim of the photowalk and the photoshoot were to bind ourselves in sort of an activity that would remain in memory for a much longer period….. it wasn’t just another adda, or another Iftar or another dinner…. it was a memory…. thanks guys!!

fashion shoot with LX-5??

18 August 2011
Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

oh yes!!…. Lamisa just got her new pair of shoes from her grandpa and she was more than just eager to show it off…. and when such moments occur, you have to resort to the best camera (which is defined by Chase Jarvis as the camera that is available to you)…. I was privileged, because I had a lot more than what Chase Jarvis was mentioning about…. I had the fantastic Panasonic Lumix LX-5, and with it I had my most portable strobist gear (a YN-560 flash, Elinchrom Skyport radio trigger and receiver and a 60cm x 38cm home-made collapsible diffuser)…. and all of that was packed inside the same bag where I had my netbook with its charger, mobile internet and some small stuff… this is my most favourite bag, which I mentioned in an earlier post….

Lamisa’s mom played the assistant’s role with the diffuser and the YN-560 flash…. and that turned out to be a fashion shoot after all…. I used the “Paper Toner” tone in Color Efex Pro for some of the images to make it more punchy and to focus on Lamisa’s growing talent as a baby model!!

for the last part, some old collectibles of my wife and her brother gave Lamisa another excuse to stay still in front of the camera…. in fact, that was the only way to shoot her shoes!!

more to come soon enough…..